Australia bans Nazi salute, swastika, other hate symbols in public as antisemitism spikes
Australia bans Nazi salute, swastika, other hate symbols in public as antisemitism spikes
Lawmakers have banned public displays of the Nazi salute, swastika and other hate symbols as Australia tries to get to grips with a spike in antisemitism.
Australian lawmakers have banned the performance of the Nazi salute in public and outlawed the display or sale of Nazi hate symbols such as the swastika in landmark legislation that went into effect in the country Monday. The new laws also make the act of glorifying OR praising acts of terrorism a criminal offense.
The crime of publicly performing the Nazi salute or displaying the Nazi swastika is punishable by up to 12 months in prison, according to the Reuters news agency.
Mark Dreyfus, Australia's Attorney-General, said in a press release Monday that the laws — the first of their kind in the country — sent "a clear message: there is no place in Australia for acts and symbols that glorify the horrors of the Holocaust and terrorist acts."
"No one in Australia will be allowed to glorify or profit from acts and symbols that celebrate the Nazis and their evil ideology," the press release said.
Glad to see someone mention the Profiting part.
I've always suspected a lot of this was due to grifters stoking these A-holes up to increase sales of the flags, shirts, hats, etc.
The Brandon thing was a big boon to the Maga grifters as it created more new things one needs to collect to show your true level of being a Patriot.
You could then change out your Trump flag curtains for the Brandon stuff. Some are brave enough to change them out for the Nazis stuff when the time is right too. It completes the set when combined with the Southern Surrender flags as your curtains or bath towel.
What implications does this have on media using the swastika? I know that for games like Wolfenstein the swastika is everywhere and while it doesn't really retract from the experience by being absent, it would be really strange for that to suddenly not be OK, especially in the context of Wolfenstein where you're tearing the Nazis a new one
Good for Australia.
Excellent
This is the best summary I could come up with:
"No one in Australia will be allowed to glorify or profit from acts and symbols that celebrate the Nazis and their evil ideology," the press release said.
The landmark new laws were introduced as Australia tries to get to grips with a spike in antisemitism in the country as the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza rages.
Preliminary data released by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry showed a rise in antisemitic incidents in the wake of the bloody Oct. 7 terror attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants, which the Israeli government says left more than 1,400 people dead.
Israel launched an immediate war on Hamas in response, which health officials in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip say has killed nearly 23,000 people.
In October, unverified video went viral online showing a small group of people appearing to chant antisemitic slogans at a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside the Sydney Opera House.
A video posted on social media on Oct. 8 by the conservative Australian Jewish Association group purportedly showed protesters launching flares and chanting "Gas the Jews" and other antisemitic refrains.
The original article contains 367 words, the summary contains 177 words. Saved 52%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
other hate symbols
such as? am I going to prison for owning a black flag?
The new laws also make the act of glorifying OR praising acts of terrorism a criminal offense.
I will not stop praising or glorifying climate protestors laying across lanes of traffic. you being a little bit late to your soul sucking 9 to 5 isn't an act of terrorism.
The word Terrorist is already used as a truncheon against dissidents. Convicted Terrorist is about to become the 3rd gender in Australia.No more WW2 video games with German swastikas?
I hate nazis as much as the next guy, but banning the swastika sets a bad precedent. This isn't freedom, this is the state making decisions on what ideas people are allowed to communicate. The swastika symbol, The Sun Wheel, predates nazism, and is seen all over SE Asia on old buildings. I understand the desire to clamp down on nazisim, but this seems like an infringement on people's right to free speech and right to offend.
This can only work if they change their neuliberal ideology and the myth of the free market regulating. They have to answer the issues of the inequalities. Otherwise, they banned symbols and profits. But, the ideology will still be present. And this one, you have to address social and systemic issues to fight it.